Why publish your research in the Journal of Medical Entomology?
ESA’s portfolio of journals is broad, but Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Section members benefit from an ESA journal that is specifically aimed at reaching and publishing the research of medical, urban, and veterinary entomologists—the Journal of Medical Entomology (JME). Unfortunately, a recent survey indicated that publication within JME may be under-utilized by MUVE section members, prompting this update on the JME.
History. JME was created in 1964 by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum in Hawaii to provide a venue for the publication of important international research on medically important arthropods as well as provide a forum for contemporary issues in medical entomology. JME was acquired by ESA in 1988. Since my first term as editor in 1988, the journal has expanded its scope to include arthropods of veterinary and then urban importance and has served as the flagship for Section D and now the MUVE Section. In 2014, ESA journals became published, distributed and marketed through Oxford University Press (OUP), greatly expanding visibility. JME’s Impact Factor is up in 2017 to 1.968 [the 5 year IF = 2.131], placing it 4th among its competitor group (16th overall in the Entomology category) and making it ESA’s highest- impact journal.
Scope. JME reports on all aspects of medical and veterinary entomology and acarology. Subject sections include: morphology, systematics, evolution; sampling, distribution, dispersal; development, life history; population and community ecology; behavior, chemical ecology; population biology/genetics; molecular biology/genomics; neurobiology, physiology, biochemistry; vector control, pest management, resistance, repellents; arthropod/host interaction, immunity; vector/pathogen/host interaction, transmission; vector-borne diseases, surveillance, prevention; direct injury, myiasis, forensics; modeling/GIS, risk assessment, economic impact. In addition to full-length research articles, the journal publishes Reviews, interpretive Forum articles, Short Communications, and Letters to the Editor.
Journal readership. Research published in JME is widely circulated and read due to ESA and OUP promotion. Under OUP, JME’s total circulation has risen for the last three years to >2,500 institutions and individuals. In addition, approximately 5,500 sites in the developing world receive access to JME’s content through Oxford initiatives. In 2016, JME papers averaged 38,278 full text downloads/month. JME published 7 of the top 25 most accessed papers in the ESA portfolio in 2017, including 4 in the top 10 papers. The JME article “Behavioral Responses of Nymph and Adult Cimex lectularius (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) to Colored Harborages” by McNeill et al. achieved one of the ten highest altmetric scores of 2016 out of all journal articles published by OUP. From its date of publication in April until the end of 2016, this article received 3,025 full text downloads and 5,830 views. In 2018 all articles had >150k views with content engagement. Any interested scientist or reader can sign up to receive an email alert when papers are first published or a table of contents alert when a full issue is published. If you haven’t signed up for JME content alerts yet, instructions are available at https://academic.oup.com/insect- science/pages/ESA_alerts.
Review and publication. In 2017, JME published 182 articles. Papers are published on line and then in print as soon as possible after the review and editing processes are completed. To ensure manuscript quality, submissions are reviewed anonymously by 2-3 scientists in the field as well as the JME subject editor for that area. Careful review has not slowed publication. In 2016, for accepted papers, the median time from receipt of the manuscript to acceptance was <9 weeks and to online publication was 15 weeks.
JME and ESA work to create a positive and efficient publishing experience for authors. Published papers funded by the US NIH are automatically uploaded to PubMed and PubMed Central. JME has partnered with Dryad to simplify open access to data and a link to these data is included in the final paper. Although publication both on line and in print are cost free to ESA members, ESA also offers open access to authors for a price comparable to competing journals such as PLoS. Issues of JME going back to volume 1 are archived and available to all ESA members.
In summary, things have changed markedly since I first became editor. Review and publication are faster, research is more widely disseminated and the profile of JME has been enhanced by OUP and ESA marketing efforts. Certainly submission to JME will ensure that your work effectively reaches your peers within the medical, urban and veterinary entomology community.
William K. Reisen, PhD Editor, Journal of Medical Entomology Professor Emeritus Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology School of Veterinary Medicine University of California Davis, CA 95616
Email: [email protected]